Impressionism

Ford Madox Ford: The Good Soldier

In this course, Professor Max Saunders (King's College, London) explores Ford Madox Ford's 1915 novel, the Good Soldier. We begin by providing a brief introduction to Ford Madox Ford and his literary circle, before discussing his status as an 'impressionist' writer. In the second module, we think about Dowell as an 'unreliable narrator' – in what way is he unreliable? is his unreliability accidental, as he himself claims, or deliberate? – before turning in the third module to the presentation of sex and sexuality in the novel. In the fourth module we think about the imagery of the heart in the novel, focusing in particular on passion and repression, love and sex, and the relationship between love and identity, before turning in the fifth and final module to think about some of the thornier issues related to the chronology of the novel – most importantly: what actually happened on 4 August 1904?

Impressionism

In this module, we provide a brief introduction to Ford Madox Ford himself ('the only uncle of the gifted young', according to H. G. Wells), before going on to think about his status as an 'impressionist' writer.